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Epilogue

Three days after the attack by the Heavenly Lions, in the afternoon, King Francois of Galarc was visiting Rio’s mansion for the first time since the attack.

Part of the reason was to hear the testimonies of the residents, but he had already received an advance report of that from Charlotte, who gathered the necessary information immediately after the attack. The biggest reason for his visit was to thank those who contributed the most to repelling the insurgents and meet Gouki’s group for the first time.

The reason for the wait was related to the reason why Francois was visiting the mansion in person instead of summoning them to the castle.

The battle with the Hero Killer Draugul had been witnessed across the capital, including by those in the castle. It was clear that summoning them to the castle immediately after the fight would result in meddling nobles attempting to make contact.

However, much of the information in Charlotte’s report was better kept confidential. Releasing the information carelessly could result in provoking antipathy from Satsuki or Rio, which was undesirable for Francois as well. There were also some matters he wanted to obtain Rio’s consent for when releasing the information. Waiting before the visit also allowed him to buy time before Rio’s return, which was why Francois was only visiting after three days.

Incidentally, Sara and Gouki had not revealed all their secrets to the Galarc Kingdom. For example, they had explained the existence of spirit arts and how Hel, Ifritah, and Ariel were spirits, but the fact that Sara’s group were demi-humans—as the humans would call them—was kept hidden. Gouki’s group had introduced themselves as people connected to Rio’s parents, but they had refrained from explaining the details of Rio’s birth without his permission.

But that aside, they had just finished exchanging the necessary greetings with each other.

“And so, I welcome you to the Galarc Kingdom,” Francois said to Gouki and Kayoko.

“We are extremely grateful for your forgiveness over how we entered your castle uninvited.” Gouki bowed his head, expressing his respect for the foreign king through his demeanor.

They were currently in the dining hall of the mansion. Although it was comparatively minor, Rio’s mansion had been damaged in the mercenary attack. The window in the drawing room was still broken, so they were gathered in the dining hall instead. They were also to be served lunch after this.

Present in the hall were Francois, Gouki, Kayoko, as well as Charlotte, Satsuki, Miharu, Celia, Sara, and Orphia. Alma was fully healed but resting just to be safe, and Latifa was keeping her company.

“Come to think of it, your people entered the castle grounds from the skies. Ha ha, it’s fine, it doesn’t bother me,” Francois said with a hearty smile. He then turned to Gouki. “We can save the details for Haruto’s return, but I would like to confirm your intentions from here. Would it be right to consider your people as Haruto’s private army—or rather, vassals? Your relationship to him seems somewhat different to that of Sara and the other girls. I am prepared to offer you a befitting status as a reward for your contribution to repelling the insurgents, if you so desire.”

“That’s another complicated matter to address... For the time being, you can think of us as cooperators instead of vassals. Sir Haruto is rather against the notion of seeing us below him,” Gouki answered with a somewhat troubled smile.

“I see... That tends to be a troubling aspect of his personality,” Francois said, returning the smile. “But I understand. Perhaps it would be best to leave this discussion until his return after all.”

“I’m sure he’ll be back in no time at all if he can fly. He may even drop by out of the blue today,” Charlotte added.

“The spirit arts you mentioned, was it? The existence of spirits is rather hard to believe, but that was how the saint was tracked, you said.”

Francois’s words were uttered with the knowledge of Aishia’s identity as a humanoid spirit. This wasn’t something that Sara and the others had told him intentionally—the reveal of their spirits had allowed Charlotte to guess that Rio had one as well, which then led to the guess that Aishia tracked the saint by being in spirit form.

“Umm... Haruto may have returned just now,” Sara interrupted, raising her hand.

“Why, I will go meet him at the front gate immediately.” Charlotte shot to her feet in delight.

“Wouldn’t he be surprised to see you knowingly waiting for him?” Satsuki asked, pointing out how he wasn’t aware that she knew about spirits now.

“That’s what makes it interesting,” Charlotte replied with a thrilled look.

Satsuki was drawn into grinning along. “In that case, I might as well tag along.”


And so, it was decided that a group of them would go out to meet Rio.

◇ ◇ ◇

Charlotte, Satsuki, Miharu, and Celia had gone out to meet Rio at the front gate of the castle.

They watched as Rio and the others walked towards them from the noble district with Liselotte.

“He really brought her back... Amazing...” Satsuki muttered. Her tone was more hopeful and awed than exasperated. He was much more of a hero than her, she thought.

“It’s Sir Haruto, after all.” Charlotte nodded with a triumphant expression, as though it was only natural.

“It’s amazing how convincing those words can be.”

“Right?”

Satsuki and Miharu exchanged strained smiles.

“Just as we expected, he looks surprised to see us. Shall we go to him?” Celia looked at Rio’s rounded eyes from afar and giggled with a dimpled smile.

“Yes, let’s go. Hey, Haruto!” Satsuki waved her arms while breaking into a jog. Charlotte followed behind her. They eventually got close enough to speak to him.

“Welcome back, Haruto! Liselotte, Aishia, and Aria too!” Satsuki said, beaming.

“Hello... We’ve returned.” Rio was still confused.

“Hee hee. A lot happened while you were away, Sir Haruto.” Delighted by his confusion, Charlotte walked up to Rio and entangled herself around his arm. She then tugged on it once before turning to speak to Liselotte. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Liselotte. Welcome back.”

“Thank you, Princess Charlotte.”

Like Rio, Liselotte looked bewildered.

“I’ve completed your entry procedures, so please tell me everything that happened. Gouki and the others are also waiting at the mansion,” Charlotte said teasingly, peering at Rio’s face.

“...”

Rio was at a loss for words. He was clearly wondering what in the world had happened while he was gone.

“Stop that, Char. These two still haven’t given their greetings yet,” Satsuki said, scolding Charlotte for trying to monopolize Rio’s attention. “I have a lot I want to say too, but Celia and Miharu worked really hard while Haruto was gone, remember? So let them talk to him too. Go on, you two.”

She pushed the hesitant Miharu and Celia towards Rio.

“Erm...”

They exchanged slightly embarrassed looks with each other.

“Welcome back.”

They celebrated Rio’s return with gentle smiles.



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